4/08. Training University Personnel for the Information Society the Finnish TieVie Project. Merja Peurasaari (ed.)

Transcription

1 Publications of the Finnish Virtual University 4/08 Training University Personnel for the Information Society the Finnish TieVie Project Merja Peurasaari (ed.)

2 Merja Peurasaari (ed.) Training University Personnel for the Information Society the Finnish TieVie Project

3 Publisher Finnish Virtual University, Service Unit P. O. Box 1100, FI TKK Layout Kati Rosenberg ISBN (paperback) ISBN (pdf) ISSN Multiprint Oy Helsinki 2008

4 Table of contents Introduction 5 Part 1 National TieVie project and networking as a part of progress towards information society 7 TieVie towards the Finnish information society Anna-Kaarina Kairamo and Matti Sinko 8 The TieVie project and the snowball effect from a local idea to a national training programme Merja Peurasaari, Tytti Tenhula and Matti Lappalainen 15 Prerequisites and challenges of TieVie networking Tytti Tenhula, Merja Peurasaari, Matti Lappalainen and Markku Närhi 30 Virtual networks as an organisational model for university operations Antti Auer and Markku Närhi 41 Part 2 Implementation of the training pedagogical principles, functional and technical solutions 50 Working as a tutor in the evaluation online module of tievie training dialogue with different types of learners Mira Huusko and Soile Jokinen 51 It is the atmosphere that matters Enhancing local pedagogical change through shared online work Maarit Saarenkunnas, Peppi Taalas and Tytti Tenhula 59 Online tutoring a challenge towards assuming versatile roles The educator helps students to learn, the social networker creates a good atmosphere and the technologist helps with technical issues Arja Kukkonen and Sini Lehto 71 To guide or not to guide, that is the question. Practical advice for mentors. Tove Forslund and Kati Hietalahti 80 Megaconference conference networking in TieVie training Markku Närhi, Merja Peurasaari, Kari Tuononen and Taru Valovirta 92 The power of networked cooperation and the quality of e-learning from fruitful cooperation to concrete results Paula Airaksinen, Kristiina Karjalainen, Arja Kukkonen, Merja Peurasaari and Päivi Pihlaja 99

5 Part 3 Results of the training Examining the development projects of the participants 109 A peek into the development of the educational use of ICT in Finnish universities. A discussion of the development projects carried out in the TieVie training programmes Paula Airaksinen and Hanna Frilander 110 Authors TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

6 Introduction The TieVie project is a support service project for the Finnish Virtual University (FVU) 1 which offered training in the educational use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to the staff of Finnish universities in It was financed by the Ministry of Education as part of Virtual University project funding. The TieVie project was launched based on the need to strengthen the e-learning skills and expertise among Finnish university staff. This need was pointed out in the national strategy for education, training and research in the information society outlined by the Ministry of Education 2. The TieVie project organised two national training programmes: the TieVie training programme (5 ECTS credits) providing basic skills in the use of ICT in teaching for university teachers, and the TieVie expert training programme (15 ECTS credits) aimed at the teaching, support and development staff at the universities to improve their expertise in the use of ICT in teaching and learning. Throughout the years, about 1150 persons took part in the TieVie programmes 3, and there were participants from all the 21 universities in Finland. In the last three years of operation there were also some participants from the polytechnics. The TieVie network could be considered challenging due to the number of actor groups involved and the wide spectrum of the field of operations. This collection of articles was published in the spring of 2007 as a more extensive publication in Finnish 4. The Finnish edition arose from the desire of the participants to document and describe the TieVie project, and to analyse the project from different viewpoints. During its operation, the TieVie project also attracted international interest, and that is why the decision was made also to publish a version in English, albeit a more concise one. In many projects only the results often remain as a reminder of their existence, while descriptions of the different phases of the project, reasons for the choices made, problems encountered and the solutions found are left undocumented. We wish to share the experiences we had when participating in the TieVie project, and spread the knowledge we gained for the benefit of actors in different networks, educational developers and instructors in their activities. Through the descriptions given in the articles, some of them detailed, we wish to give the reader a chance to evaluate the choices made in the TieVie project and the training programmes, and to compare TieVie with other training programmes, educational projects and networks. In keeping with the spirit of TieVie, all the articles are collaborative productions by more than one author. The authors took part in the TieVie project as co-ordinators, trainers, online tutors and mentors. In the first part, the members of the TieVie planning team and those who followed the action on a close range describe the TieVie project and training programmes, viewpoints related to networking, and the position of the TieVie project in a wider social context. The second 1 Finnish Virtual University portal 2 Education, Training and Research in the Information Society: A National Strategy for TieVie training programmes or TieVie programmes refer to both the TieVie training programme (5 ECTS credits) and the TieVie expert training programme (15 ECTS credits). 4 Tuhat ja yksi tarinaa: TieVie-verkoston seitsemän vuotta Merja Peurasaari (ed.). Suomen virtuaaliyliopiston julkaisuja 1. Espoo: Suomen virtuaaliyliopiston palveluyksikkö. svy_julkaisu1.pdf. TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 5

7 part provides insights into the pedagogical principles of TieVie training, operating models, and implementations from the viewpoints of the various stakeholders. The third and final part is about the development projects implemented by the participants in the TieVie programmes. This book would not have come about without the participants active desire, typical of the TieVie project throughout its existence, to share their experiences. Quite a few individuals have contributed to this compilation of articles. We wish to express our greatest gratitude to all the authors and others who contributed to the publication process. An important part in the publication process has been co-operation with the Finnish Virtual University Service Unit, for which we also wish to express our greatest gratitude here. We hope this compilation gives the reader inspiration, ideas and new perspectives to develop the use of ICT in teaching and learning and encourages networking on both national and international forums! Oulu, December 2007 Merja Peurasaari Project Manager of the TieVie project TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

8 Part 1 National TieVie project and networking as a part of progress towards information society TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 7

9 TieVie towards the Finnish information society Anna-Kaarina Kairamo and Matti Sinko Summary The authors have a long experience in developing the use of ICT in learning both in Finland and internationally. While Kairamo has participated in the TieVie project since the beginning, Sinko participated in managing the project during its early years, as an integral part of the Finnish Virtual University. In this article they discuss and evaluate the TieVie project in a larger historical context of strategic developments in the use of ICT in learning. ICT is gradually being incorporated into studies and teaching in Finnish institutions of higher education (HE), and the use of ICT in teaching has become a part of the general development of higher education pedagogy. However, it could be asked whether the use of ICT in learning has reached a level where further ICT development and training of academic staff could be left without specific attention in the national HE policy to be fulfilled by the training market supply alone. 1 Introduction As a product and activity characteristic of its times, the TieVie project offers interesting viewpoints. It reflects the European and Finnish information society discussion, and it also epitomises many issues typical of the national HE policy of recent years in a microcosm. TieVie avails interesting possibilities to scrutinise the integration of ICT into HE pedagogy, from the viewpoints of different traditions of education and teaching and development trends in the use of ICT in teaching. 2 TieVie and the guidelines for the information society 2.1 The roots of TieVie The 1980 s and 90 s saw a breakthrough in the use of information technology on a broad scale, and during that period the critical amount of users was created in HE, first in communities of researchers and then, as a natural continuum, also in researcher education. The birth of the CSC 1 and Funet 2 helped Finnish HE to achieve an internationally high level in exploiting information technologies. The rapid expansion of the networks of HE institutions (HEIs) allowed the massive access of students into lateral communication in the community of university students. This, however, had little or no impact on teaching in the institutions, except in some fields of natural sciences, medicine and technical sciences, while in the national strategic guidelines for primary and secondary education, including vocational education, the use of ICT in teaching and systematic improvement of the ICT skills of teachers already became a stated goal in the 90 s. In the case 1 The Finnish IT centre for Science CSC is a company owned by the Ministry of Education, the predecessor of which was created in the 1970 s to govern the use of the first supercomputer acquired for university use in Finland. (see: 2 Funet is an abbreviation for the Finnish University Network, a non-profit organisation created in the mid-80 s to govern the network connecting the institutes of higher education, nowadays in practice a subsidiary of CSC. (see: 8 TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

10 of the HEIs, one had wait until general discussion on pedagogy reached the point where it started to evolve a systematic form. The autonomy and decision making of HEIs has not been instrumental in Finland, either, to implement the national strategy for the use of ICT in learning 3. In the HEIs in Finland, the introduction of ICT in teaching stemmed largely from a different tradition than in schools and vocational education institutions, where there was a huge hype in the first wave of interest towards the possibilities of IT in teaching and the later hyper- and multimedia. These waves matched well with the emerging conceptions about learning, and the subsequent modern methods which emphasised the student s independent work together with an exploratory and collaborative learning and process orientation. Two mainstreams emerged in HEIs: on the one hand, the culture of high-powered computation done in centralised supercomputer environments coupled with computer science, information technology and electronic data processing of the administration, and on the other hand, the reflection of the development of different forms of distant teaching on the world of higher education. In this second mainstream, the universities continuing education centres and open universities have played an important role. The discussion and implementation of the use of ICT in teaching appeared in the curriculum of Finnish teacher education as late as the beginning of the 90 s, but it was possible long after, and perhaps still is, to follow through teacher education without having to familiarise oneself with the use of ICT in teaching. Institutes of teacher education have not been the most proactive proponents of pedagogical ICT related innovations across HEIs. Perhaps other institutions and fields have been freer and quicker to adopt ICT tools. Development of the information society and the strategic importance of teacher education did not become an issue in Finland before the implementation of the first information society strategy in Overall, the discussion on the improvement of teaching skills and pedagogical competence of teachers in HE only started to spread in the 90 s. Therefore, higher education pedagogy, still in its infancy, immediately had to tackle with the implementation of ICT with all the related controversies. In this first national strategy, challenges for the education of teaching staff were posed on teacher education, but when the success of the strategy was assessed 5, it was not expressed how the objectives had been met. In the HE sector the focus was on improving the computer facilities, networks, library applications and applications serving the information and communication needs of researchers. The Internet, online communications and learning platforms, online courses, digital materials and learning object repositories had their breakthrough in the period of the first information society strategy actually without significant direction from the strategy. The development in the field was so fast that strategy work was falling behind, which was quite natural particularly at that time. Strategy work served decision-making and the mainstream of education, not the forerunners. 3 The system for the spreading of ICT in teaching differed greatly between primary and secondary education. In primary education no national norms or funding were issued. In secondary education pedagogical development and implementa tion of innovations on a national level has a long tradition. In secondary education normative direction quickly established IT teaching and basic equipment. However the recession in the 90 s, the end of general normative direction of public administration, and the end of earmarked state subsidies all delayed their widespread adaptation. They also slowed down the programmes for improving the teachers competencies and renovation of curricula in a direction where the possibilities of IT are taken into account. 4 The information strategy for education and research Koulutuksen ja tutkimuksen tietostrategian vaikuttavuuden arviointi TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 9

11 At the same time, an interesting convergence of several separate small traditions into a wide and diverse mainstream was taking place due to the fact that use of ICT in teaching was becoming more widespread. On the one hand, the experts of ICT in classroom teaching (computer-aided learning) noticed how the Internet was starting to make classrooms virtual. On the other hand, the education technologists of distant teaching and learning began to notice that online pedagogy offers possibilities beyond electronic distribution of teaching materials, returning assignments through the net or using video conferencing and telephone in communication 6. Many who had been awakened by the Internet found the research and development done by the forerunners. The virtual, often informal networks of experts and learning started to evolve into genuine fora of lifelong learning, the most famous of course being the worldwide network of Linux 7 user groups. From this mainstream confluence also rose the TieVie project. 2.2 The period of the second information strategy The information strategy for education and research grasped four important challenges for developing the information society: 1) ensuring necessary skills for the information society, 2) developing online learning environments, 3) securing the structures of the information society, and 4) developing digital learning resources. The ICT education for teachers, belonging to the second group of challenges, got the pivotal position it deserved in the strategy as well as in the respective implementation programme 9 and project plans 10 based on it. For tackling the challenges belonging to the third group at the university level, the Finnish Virtual University (FVU) was developed as a unifying concept. The framework for teacher education was formed by the three-level OPE.FI project 11. Its implementation for higher education was the TieVie project as one of the FVU s development projects. Especially the OPE.FI education on levels II and III was thought to be too challenging to be implemented independently by each HEI, and was therefore implemented nationally. So the systematic and wide-ranging development of the skills of university personnel in the use of ICT in teaching was initiated. Therefore TieVie was a rapid answer to the social need present in implementing the HE policy. 2.3 The period of the Information Society Programme for Education, Training and Research Until the end of 2006 the guiding document for the FVU activities and related projects and networks was the Information Society Programme for Education, Training and Research The development of skills needed in the information society and the strengthening of the HEIs ability to use ICT in their activities remained the goals of the programme. The foci were set on establishing productive and economically viable practices and on encouraging exploitation of 6 Compare for example the articles of Collan and Sinko in Sinko and Lehtinen The Linux operating system for PC computers was initiated when Linus Torvalds developed the Linux kernel and publicly released it for commenting and further development in an Internet news group in 1992 which grew then into a likeminded developers community. 8 Education, Training and Research in the Information Society: A National strategy for Information Strategy for Education and Research Implementation Plan Koulutuksen ja tutkimuksen tietostrategian hankesuunnitelmat OPE.FI I Information and communication technology basic skills; OPE.FI II The skills for the use of ICT in teaching; OPE.FI III, Special information technology skills. For a more detailed description of the OPE.FI project and its levels, see Koulutuksen ja tutkimuksen tietostrategian hankesuunnitelmat Information Society Programme for Education, Training and Research TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

12 ICT in social innovations. The purpose for consolidating the virtual university is that projects and services initially operating on national funding will eventually be transferred to the respective universities. This principle was already put into practice in the initial stages of the programme in 2005, when responsibility for the OPE.FI level II education was transferred to the respective universities. In 2004 it was still deemed too early for many universities to organise the education without external financial support. Materials prepared during the national OPE.FI level II training programme can be reused by the universities providing education on demand locally, which is nicely in line with the idea of the information society programme to produce learning materials for common use. However, statistics of the usage of the materials exploited have not been gathered. In 2007, the TieVie expert training programme (15 ECTS credits) became a fee-based service supported by the FVU Service Unit. The greatest benefit gained from the TieVie programmes 13 as seen by participants has always been networking. The TieVie programmes have won the admiration of European colleagues for two reasons. The number of university personnel educated within the TieVie framework has been exceptionally high. It has also been noted how wide the network has become and how the participants come from nearly all fields of higher education. The training has continued under the new modalities but it is too early to estimate whether TieVie will continue adding enough value and whether universities are willing to pay for it or allocate their resources elsewhere. 3. Emphasis on the information society as a content for TieVie The themes and requirements of the information society programme have been reflected in the contents, themes and implementations of the TieVie programmes. The OPE II level programme (TieVie training, 5 ECTS credits) was aimed at supporting the implementation of courses and separate services using ICT. The contents were heavily production process oriented. This was a way to support the development of virtual teaching, with the emphasis being on online learning and teaching. The aim was to develop courses that benefit from ICT. The OPE.FI level III expert programme (TieVie expert training, 15 ECTS credits) was aimed at empowering teaching, support and development personnel in universities and national virtual university projects by giving them competencies required in making changes within universities by exploiting the themes of pedagogical, technological and organisational change. The instrument of organisational change remains a strategic one, with the stated goal of creating or updating the strategy of the use of ICT in teaching in HEIs. Links with local activities were supported through development projects of the participants and local mentoring. This provided a way to strengthen the third goal of the information society programme, i.e. the information society structures in universities, by developing human support networks to complement the earlier emphasis on strengthening the technical infrastructure. Development of digital materials proved to be a strong focus in the TieVie training. What makes the production of teaching materials at the university level so interesting is that materials for intermediate and lower level education are provided by strong institutions, such as YLE (the Finnish 13 TieVie training programmes or TieVie programmes refer to both the TieVie training programme (5 ECTS credits) and the TieVie expert training programme (15 ECTS credits). TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 11

13 Broadcasting Company) and the major publishing houses, while the responsibility for the domestic production of materials for higher education rests mainly with the universities themselves. Technological advancement has reflected itself strongly on the TieVie project. During the initial phases materials were produced mainly for open availability on the network, and the tools for interaction were those designed for mass education. Many platforms and tools were still in their infancy in terms of usability. It soon became necessary to move the education to standardised interoperable platforms to cope with the demands of usability and pedagogical principles. However, since a decision about a common learning and content management system was not made in Finland, the aim of TieVie has been to give the participants experience on many environments and tools, and to develop the participants ability to work in any environment after the training. The year 2006 could be considered to mean the advent of social networking programs and the sodeemed Web concept, which in TieVie can be seen in, for example, the implementation of blogging tools in the seminars. It is interesting to follow which forms and roles the social networking programs, partly formed by an ideology contrary to the institutionalisation of learning and centralised systems, and the methods of social networking closely associated with them will take in formal learning. When the preparations for the Information Society Programme for Education, Training and Research were in progress, some changes were also made to TieVie. The contents of the TieVie expert training programme were developed to better suit the educational needs, the nature of the education and participant profiles. The participants, in general, belonged to the personnel of universities and other HEIs who were interested in the broad possibilities of using ICT, and who were more inclined towards acting as experts rather than educators in their own institutions. The use of ICT in teaching has already become commonplace in HEIs, and therefore it is not necessary to put emphasis on its benefits in TieVie. Moreover, TieVie no longer organises local workshops to develop ICT skills, as they are now plentiful in all the universities which was not the case when the TieVie project was initiated. Since 2005 the information society programme s goal of integrating ICT as part of everyday activity has been reflected in the TieVie expert programme, for example in the way that the theme of technological change has been integrated into the contents of the programme, and is no longer presented as a theme of its own. The shift in thinking can also be seen in that the use of ICT as a separate concept has largely been replaced by the concept of ICT supported university. ICT is and should be integrated into all activities. The Bologna process has helped to raise the quality of HE into the focus of Finnish and European discussion on university pedagogy. TieVie has tried to meet this challenge by renewing its contents and by directing the participants towards systematic development of the activities, quality awareness and the development of high-quality expertise in the use of ICT in teaching. The awareness of the importance of the participants own expertise areas has also increased. The way in which these different viewpoints are united in TieVie is described in Figure Web 2.0 is generally defined as a concept of action where the community-like participation of users, networking, and sharing of experiences are essential. Users become producers of content. Social networking programs, blogs, wikis, RSS-feeds etc. are often associated with the concept. According to the nature of the phenomenon blogs and wikipedia often serve as information sources. 12 TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

14 Figure 1. Different aspects of the TieVie expert training programme. This could also be seen as a model of responding to the challenge posed by the latest information society programme in striking the balance between technological, cultural and social development. 4 What next? The financial responsibility for the activities of the FVU has been delegated gradually to the universities. The TieVie case is an interesting experiment on how a government-funded staff development programme could be transformed into a fee-based service between universities. TieVie is again on the crest of the wave of current trends. It has become evident, also within the Ministry of Education, that activities such as TieVie and the Virtual University of Finland have reached a point where their activities should be financially independent. If there is a genuine demand, HEIs will assign funds for these activities. It can already be seen, however, that the readiness for such market orientation is not yet significant in the HEIs, due to several reasons. 15 No slowing down is to be expected in the development of university pedagogy and the use of ICT in teaching. It remains to be seen whether the use of ICT has already become embedded as an integral part in the regular development of teaching or if the universities see added value enough in ICT education. Is the development of ICT in teaching already so strong and networked that a national framework such as TieVie is not needed any longer? Or is the operational logic of universities such in nature that it tends to slow down networking in teaching if it is not supported or directed from outside? However, many of the challenges and possibilities that await in the horizon of the development of teaching might be too big for a single university or a coalition of few universities to tackle. In responding to these challenges, there still seems to remain a need for a national ICT oriented network and training programme. There has been significant building of trust and practising of common network-based activity in the past. Could programmes on the European level supersede joint national activity as a new goal to preserve the momentum developed by TieVie? 15 See also the article by Auer & Närhi in this publication. TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 13

15 References Archives of the Finnish Virtual University < Auer, A. & Närhi, M Virtual Networks as an Organisational Model for University Operations. Article in this publication. Education, Training and Research in the Information Society: A National strategy for Helsinki: Ministry of Education. Information Society Programme for Education, Training and Research Helsinki: Ministry of Education. Information Strategy for Education and Research Helsinki: Ministry of Education. Information Strategy for Education and Research Implementation Plan Helsinki: Ministry of Education. Koulutuksen ja tutkimuksen tietostrategian hankesuunnitelmat Helsinki: Opetusministeriö. Koulutuksen ja tutkimuksen tietostrategian vaikuttavuuden arviointi Helsinki: Opetusministeriö. Sinko, M. & Lehtinen, E Challenges of ICT in Finnish Education System. Sitra. 14 TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

16 The TieVie project and the snowball effect from a local idea to a national training programme Merja Peurasaari, Tytti Tenhula and Matti Lappalainen Summary This article describes the story of an idea that started as a joint effort between two faculties of the same university but rapidly evolved into a national training project involving a network of five universities, which by then had the personnel of all the Finnish universities as the target group. This project was the TieVie personnel training for the use of ICT in teaching and learning. The article offers a glance at the starting points of the TieVie project and the structures of the TieVie training programmes. In addition, the pedagogical and functional principles that have provided the framework and were integrated seamlessly into the practical operations are described. The article also provides insights into ways of measuring the impacts of the programmes, for example from the viewpoint of development projects realised by participants and networked action models. 1 The first steps of the TieVie project The first steps of TieVie were taken in October 1999, when two personnel trainers from two units of the University of Oulu decided that there was a need for training in the educational use of ICT for the teachers within their own university. Since the use of ICT in teaching and learning offers possibilities for networking, it was soon thought that it would be a good idea to organise the training together with another university. That also provided a natural context for the use of different e-learning tools in the training, due to the physical distances between the participants. Thanks to a long national cooperation in education and research, it was easy to find partners and within two weeks five Finnish universities 1 had expressed their interest in creating a united personnel training programme for the use of ICT in teaching. It seemed that the universities had an exceptional need for this type of cooperation, which would help to supplement, deepen and diversify their own personnel training. In the autumn of 1999, the Ministry of Education announced the availability of the first virtual university project allocations, and a decision was made to apply for funds to launch a personnel training programme for the use of ICT in teaching between five universities. The goal was to implement a long-term, practically oriented training programme in the e-learning for university teachers in accordance with the objectives set in the National Strategy for Education, Training and 1 These universities were the University of Oulu, University of Helsinki, University of Jyväskylä, University of Turku and Helsinki University of Technology. TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 15

17 Research published by the Ministry of Education. The initiative came from the Ministry of Education to offer the training to the teachers of all 21 universities in Finland, instead of the five universities initially participating. The universities are described in Figure 1. 2 Figure 1. The universities participating in the implementation of TieVie (in red) and other Finnish universities. The funding of the TieVie project for the years was secured at the beginning of The first national level programme, the TieVie expert training programme (15 ETCS credits) was launched on April 17, 2001 and the TieVie training programme (8 ECTS credits) was initiated in the autumn of the same year, on September 17, Goals of the TieVie project and the starting points of the training programmes The goals of the TieVie project were determined on the basis of several sources. The most important documents for the formulation of the goals were the information strategies for education and research, especially the information strategy for the years and its implementation plan 4. Some of the goals arose from the needs in the universities and from the experiences and views of the participants. The guidelines and directions of development of the project were also annually assessed together with the Ministry of Education. These negotiations helped to 2 For a more detailed description of challenges related to the activities of the training network, see Tenhula et al in this publication. 3 Education, Training and Research in the Information Society: A National strategy for Information Strategy for Education and Research, Implementation Plan TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

18 ensure the acceptance and consideration of the viewpoint of the provider of the funds with the goals and implementations of the project. The goals of the TieVie project and training programmes 5 were shaped through the combined effect of the four factors described in Figure 2 6. Figure 2. Factors affecting the determination of the goals of the TieVie project and training programmes. 3 Description of the TieVie project and training programmes The TieVie project has organised two national training programmes: the TieVie training programme (8 ECTS credits), aimed at supporting the competence of university teachers in the use of ICT in teaching and learning, and the TieVie expert training programme (15 ECTS credits) aimed at developing expertise and special skills in the use of ICT in teaching, for personnel in teaching, support and development roles in the universities. In addition, the network organised local workshops to develop ICT skills and supported the development of the universities local personnel training in the e-learning. The following provides a detailed description of these four essential forms of operation. 3.1 TieVie training programme The TieVie training programme was started in 2001 and it was organised for four consecutive years. The aim of the programme was to help university teachers to apply ICT in their teaching in a pedagogically sensible way. The TieVie training offered a first-hand experience in studying in an online environment. It also offered pedagogical and technical support and gave the participants tools and materials to use in recognising problems in their own teaching and in planning their online teaching. In the programme, the possibilities to implement ICT in teaching were examined from different viewpoints, including planning, learning materials, tutoring and evaluation of online teaching. 5 TieVie training programmes or TieVie programmes refer to both the TieVie training programme (5 ECTS credits) and the TieVie expert training programme (15 ECTS credits). 6 Tenhula TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 17

19 Different forms of face to face teaching and distance learning were used in the TieVie training. This encouraged networking and promoted the sharing of expertise among the educators and participants. The training consisted of two national contact seminars, one megaconference 7 implemented as a videoconference and a total of five online modules. To weld the different parts of the training together, each participant planned and implemented a development project 8. The projects were closely related to the participants own teaching and its improvement by using e-learning tools. The project was then further developed within each online module throughout the whole programme. The development and realisation of the projects was supported by both online groups organised by fields of science and mentor groups 9 organised within the universities. In the local mentoring groups, the participants could receive personal support in technical and pedagogical issues within their own university. In addition to the main modules and the development project, there were short optional courses and workshops that offered training in a variety of ICT skills 10. The training was designed to maintain a continuing learning process with the help of course letters sent by the coordinator and educators to the participants via mailing list. Course letters sent regularly during the training programme informed the participants on the progress of the training and other relevant matters. Structural changes to TieVie training included, for example, the addition of the Orientation online module into the framework in 2002, and the introduction of the megaconference the following year. In the light of the experiences received during the first implementation of the training, it was necessary to include an introductory part to the training. The Orientation online module aimed to familiarise the participants with the training, encourage networking and clarify the educational method used in the training. The megaconference was added to the studies to provide the participants with a personal experience of MCU 11 videoconferencing and information on using videoconferencing in education. Figure 3 describes the structure of the TieVie training programme in Figure 3. The operation model of the TieVie training programme (8 ECTS credits) in the academic year See Närhi et al in this publication. 8 See Airaksinen & Frilander 2008 in this publication. 9 See Forslund & Hietalahti 2008 in this publication. 10 See chapter 3.3 in this article. 11 Multipoint Control Unit. 18 TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

20 The number of participants in the TieVie training programme ranged from 120 to 200. The last TieVie training programme was implemented in the academic year , after which the project s resources were allocated to the TieVie expert training programme. 3.2 TieVie expert training for the development of expertise and special skills in the use of ICT in teaching The TieVie expert training programme (15 ECTS credits) was aimed at providing expertise and special skills for the use of ICT in teaching, and was first implemented in The goal was to educate trainers, support personnel and other experts in the e-learning for different development projects of institutes, faculties and universities and for inter-university network projects. The training deepened the participants expertise on different fields of the use of ICT in teaching and learning and established a readiness for developing teaching, their own work and the working community. The training has provided a concrete opportunity for cooperation and networking between different universities and fields of science. The training focused on the pedagogical, technological and organizational change in the university. Starting from 2005, also on the quality of teaching which, besides having a dedicated online module, has also been included as a viewpoint permeating all parts of the training. The theme of quality has become a hot topic, due for example to the effects of the Bologna process 12 and the general quality work initiated in the institutions of higher education. The development of the quality of the e-learning has been examined as a part of overall quality of teaching and the strategies and development projects of the universities. The TieVie expert training consisted of contact seminars, online modules, thematic and peer group working, an optional local workshop to develop ICT skills, familiarisation with associated literature, personal portfolios, and most importantly the planning and completion of the participant s own development project. Attendance varied from the initial 60 participants to a hundred or so participants in the final years. The structure of the training remained essentially the same during the six years of operation. After the first year of operation, the structure of the programme was reinforced by arranging the participants into so-called thematic groups, where the participants could choose the thematic context that best fitted their own development project. The themes were related to the pedagogical, organisational and technological development of the e-learning and to the networked operations model. Other reforms implemented in the early stages included the support for the participant s continuing learning process and reflective thought, which was promoted through reflection paper assignments and portfolio work. In 2005, mentoring organised locally and two megaconferences implemented as videoconferences were integrated into the TieVie expert training. The goal of mentoring was to support the development projects realised by the participants and their local effectiveness, and to take into account 12 The document entitled the Bologna declaration was signed by the ministers of education of 29 European countries in 1999.The fundamental goal of the Bologna declaration is to create a common European area of higher education by the year See The Bologna process. Ministry of Education. index.html?lang=en. TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 19

21 the special characteristics of each university. In the megaconference the additional aim was to showcase new methods of working and the possibilities of using video technology in teaching. Figure 4 describes the structure of the TieVie expert training in the academic year Figure 4. The operational structure of the TieVie expert training programme (15 ECTS credits) in the academic year Local workshops to develop ICT skills Some of the resources of the TieVie project in the years were allocated to organising workshops to develop ICT skills locally. The workshops were short independent courses realised mainly as face-to-face training and aimed at developing technical competence. The topics included production of learning materials for the web, video processing and the technical and pedagogical use of different learning platforms. The workshops were optional, and the participants were able to choose courses according to their own needs and interest areas. During four years, a total of 323 workshops were organised. 3.4 Support of the local use of ICT in teaching in universities One of the goals of the TieVie project has been to support and develop the universities local personnel training in the e-learning, as the intention has been that the responsibility for implementing the training should eventually move from the national network to the participating universities. The TieVie expert training has trained people who have the skills and expertise required to organise personnel training locally. The main support forms were the national seminars for actors responsible for the personnel training and support in the use of ICT in teaching in universities, the development of training materials and training modules, and the broadcasting of expert lectures on the web. 20 TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

22 In , the TieVie project organised three national seminars, in which a total of 85 personnel training professionals from different Finnish universities participated. In the seminars, important questions related to the organisation of local training were examined, good experiences, practices and ideas were shared and cooperation between different actors was established. According to the feedback, the seminars served as an important venue to share information and experiences between the participants. When the TieVie project was launched at the beginning of the millennium, good quality Finnish language training materials on the use of ICT in teaching and learning were difficult to find. Therefore most of the materials used in the training programmes were produced by the TieVie project. After the national TieVie training (8 ECTS credits) ended, the materials have been updated, complemented and revised to function as independent wholes. Completely new materials have also been produced. The materials are aimed primarily for use by universities in personnel training, but other institutions are also free to use them for their own benefit. The materials can be found on both the TieVie portal 13 and the Finnish Virtual University portal 14. TieVie has supported the universities also by broadcasting the expert lectures held in the national contact seminars of TieVie expert training live on the Internet, and by recording them to be stored for viewing online later. This has served both the organisers of local training programmes and participants from earlier years who have been able to keep their know-how up to date in this way. The TieVie project has also cooperated actively with other networks of the Finnish virtual university and other networks organising personnel training, such as the Peda-forum 15 network, in organising seminars and other events related to teaching in institutions of higher education. 4 Pedagogical and functional principles of the TieVie training programmes The TieVie training programmes were designed as a coherent, long-term process supporting the participants development projects and their implementation. The guideline in planning was to implement training focused on the development of teaching methods and improvement of the quality of teaching. There was a conscious desire to keep ICT in the role of an instrument. It was emphasised that instead of the tools becoming an end in itself, they should facilitate teaching, improve its quality or bring some other added value to teaching. In the planning and implementation of the training programmes, the most important pedagogical and operational principles were considered to be authenticity, collaboration, sharing of expertise, networked cooperation and student and learning centred approaches 16. When planning the training programmes, it was considered important that the principles agreed on together should be reflected in all operations and permeate all the sectors of the training. The pedagogical and functional principles that influenced the planning of the training, described in Figure 4, were presented to the participants in all the training programmes starting from the first one in TieVie portal Finnish Virtual University portal See the Peda-forum website For example Saarenkunnas et al. 2001, Tenhula et al. 2003, Ruotsalainen et al TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 21

23 Figure 5. Pedagogical and functional principles of the TieVie training programmes. Table 1 helps to illustrate the pedagogical and functional principles of TieVie training and describes how they have manifested themselves in the implementation of the training programmes. 22 TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT

24 Table 1. Operational aspects of the training programmes, and the practical manifestation of the pedagogical and functional principles in the training. Operational area of training Marketing Selecting the participants Aims of the training Contents Working methods Manifestatations of pedagogical and functional principles. The training was open to the staff of all the 21 Finnish universities. The programmes were marketed to the universities through the TieVie contact persons appointed for each university, who targeted the marketing to relevant people in their own universities. Training was advertised as descriptively and realistically as possible, so that the participants could already estimate the work load required by the training, their own resources and ability to commit themselves to a long-term training programme at the application phase. The principle of authenticity is manifested in the development project being the most important criterion in choosing the participants for the training. The selection of the participants was left to the universities. This sharing of responsibility demonstrates the value of TieVie as a collaborative project unifying the Finnish university field. Although the training programmes were offered as mass training aimed at a large number of participants, the contents and working methods in the training were quite student-centred and flexible. In all the phases of planning and implementation, the participant s own goals and areas of interest were taken into account. Within the training, a degree of optionality was included to enable the participants to pursue different paths. The developers of the programmes defined the general goals of the training, within which the participants were able to define their own goals for the training for example through their own development projects. In practice, the learning process of every participant was different from the others. The contents of the training were built by addressing real problems of the participants so that they received benefits in their own work. Pedagogical, organisational and technological viewpoints were covered in an interconnected way. In the realisation of training programmes, the competence of the participants was put into use. The participants in the training were experts and researchers who helped to produce the contents of the programmes together with the developers of the training. The goals, pedagogical and functional principles and working methods of the training were made as transparent as possible and explained to the participants in all activities. TieVie training programmes emphasised authenticity and used several working methods to support learning. Attempts to solve genuine problems relating to the teaching of the participants were made in the multidisciplinary expert community formed by the educators and participants. The results of learning could be examined in the online learning environments by the educators and participants, and some of them were also published openly on the web. The implementation model of the training forced the participants to work, and the training could not be completed simply by sitting through and listening. The participants had an opportunity to get to know each other, share their thoughts and experiences, compose ideas and network together. The whole training was planned so that the different aspects and goals of the training interconnect to form a process and support the progress of the participant s development project. In designing the training, a long duration was considered important. TRAINING UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL FOR THE INFORMATION SOCIETY THE FINNISH TIEVIE PROJECT 23